Abstract:

Agriculture and cities used to be closely connected but changes in production, transportation and urban population growth after the industrial revolution produced their separation. Present developments make this set of circumstances hard to sustain; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) is predicting a massive increase in agricultural demand of 50% by 2050, while the conversion of forests to agricultural land is estimated to be happening between 2015 and 2020, at a mind-boggling speed of around 10 million hectares every year. A growing consciousness of the unsustainable cost of deforestation, the understanding that the provision of fresh food can improve the health of the population, that we can stop the wasting food by composting and fertilizing the soil, that agriculture in the city can establish working opportunities, increase the possibility of establishing community and reduce runoff as well as facilitate adaptation to climate change have created a growing trend in the last 25 years, for agriculture to become once again part of the urban environment. Empty lots to farm in most large cities are however scarce but rooftops present a unique opportunity for farming.

There is an acute need to introduce architecture students to nature, landscape, and gardens. Many recognize the environmental crisis facing the world but it is far too commonly assumed that professionals such as landscape architects, planners, urbanists or ecologists will take care of the outside and that the study of architecture can therefore concentrate exclusively on the form and structure of built objects. But architecture is configured and at the same time shapes the landscape and urban context. Students therefore need to increase their awareness, understanding and appreciation of the environment.

Agritopia was an architectural design studio offered at the University of California at Berkeley in the Fall of 2022 that innovated by introducing agricultural, horticultural and landscape issues, all topics that are not generally part of the architecture program, into the design curriculum. The studio linked the design of new housing with farming on rooftops with the aim of creating a sustainable food-producing neighborhood in a downtown area of Oakland, California. This paper will describe the strategies adapted in conducting the studio, analyze the results and make further recommendation in order to develop student’s competence and comprehension of complex relations between buildings agriculture, landscapes and the environment.

Keywords:

Architecture, Agriculture, Farming, Urban Renovation, Housing, Food, Sustainability.